Recently, we’ve seen local, state and federal government bodies across the nation taking small steps to gradually become more sustainable, cost-effective facilities. Perhaps one of the most noteworthy goals that we’ve blogged about before is the Obama Administration’s push for federal government agencies to become completely paperless by the end of 2019.

The majority(40 percent) of readers agreed with the government’s long-term goal to go paperless, stating that printed paper documents can easily be replaced due to the rise in tablets, smartphones and other technology.

Other options, such as eliminating the need to buy new furniture by up-cycling existing assets, replacing mercury bulbs with more efficient lighting, and reducing the use of personal transportation, were also popular choices among voters, with all three coming in at a close second place.

Here at The Refinishing Touch, we support any initiative that simultaneously preserves a business owner’s budget and the environment. Many local, state and federal governments are showing progress in both its short- and long-term environmental goals, and we are proud to be a part of its shift towards increased sustainability.

For more information on our renovation work completed in The White House and other government facilities, please click here. To contribute to our weekly polls, be sure to visit our blog page where a new question is posted every week.

“Sustainable practices navigate successfully through time and space, while others crack up and vanish.” – Bruce Sterling

Last week travel operators, hospitality organizations and professionals celebrated Responsible Tourism Day, an event introduced five years ago by the World Travel Market (WTM) Responsible Tourism Day and supported by UNWTO. Its vision includes several key elements: bring the travel and hospitality industries together to educate travelers on responsible behavior; explore how travel destinations can be more sustainable; and best practices to encourage the debate and drive change of key environmental-related issues.

One of the most interesting aspects of this event and movement is it provides different individuals and groups the opportunity to drive a range of positive messages, helping take the tourism and hospitality industry forward. To show the breadth of these messages, each driven by an individual interpretation of ‘responsible’, here are a few items that caught our eye:

– An interesting post from Harold Goodwin, professor of Responsible Tourism Management at Leeds Metropolitan University and founding member of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, created at the first World Responsible Tourism Day. Professor Goodwin discusses how the responsible tourism movement has developed to cover all forms of tourism – including individuals with disabilities or limited financial means – and has worked to “escape the tiny ecotourism niche”.

– In a news story titled ‘Responsible Tourism Day: Ban plastic bags for a healthier environment’, Pakistan’s The Express Tribune, associated with the International Herald Tribune, wrote about high school students in the region who went around to local shops asking them to stop using plastic bags. The students also joined local government officials in a walk, holding placards which said: “Say No to Plastic Bags”. According to The Tribune, 500 million plastic bags are used each year, and it takes between 60 to 100 million barrels of oil to make those bags. It’s estimated that it takes 10,000 years for a plastic bag to decompose.

– In a passionate blog post on The Travel Word, Ethan Gelber encourages individuals to get involved and take action, highlighting how sustainable, responsible practices are common across so many industries. Gelber notes that while there are still challenges, unsustainable practices are frequently being replaced in the travel industry.

As a team that has been encouraging, challenging and enabling sustainable practices across the hospitality, government and education sectors for the last 35 years, we couldn’t agree more with the sentiments of these articles and the mission behind Responsible Tourism Day. We hope that individuals and organizations alike will continue to embrace responsible, environmentally-friendly actions, and that sustainable education remains at the forefront of change.

With Election Day in full swing, our government’s commitment to sustainability and environmental preservation has never been more important. Here at The Refinishing Touch, we have firsthand experience working with government agencies and military branches to solidify that sustainable commitment, and ensure our country’s tax dollars are being used wisely and effectively. Through our on-site, sustainable furniture asset management services, including refinishing, reupholstering and remanufacturing, we’ve helped countless state, local and federal governments save approximately 90 percent in carbon emissions and 80 percent on budget, when compared to buying new furniture.

And because of our continued involved and investment in our nation’s sustainable future, we’re always interested in learning about new eco-friendly initiatives and programs the government is enacting. Most recently, we’ve been hearing more and more about the push to go paperless. In fact, The Obama Administration recently set a goal for federal government agencies to be completely paperless by the end of 2019. Among other requirements, agencies must have plans in place as to how this will be accomplished by next year. Another part of the initiative, being spearheaded by NARA (the National Archives and Records Administration) is for federal agencies to fully manage both permanent and temporary email records by the end of 2016.

The Refinishing Touch applauds the government’s efforts to create a more sustainable nation, and going paperless is a great step toward that goal. We look forward to the positive effects such a program will have on our environment and we hope other organizations, including those outside for the government, will push for similar paperless standards.

Over the past week, The Refinishing Touch has been tipping its hats to several businesses in the hospitality industry that have been demonstrating a commitment to environmental preservation. Not only have we extended praise through our blog series, but we’ve also recently rewarded 29 hospitality companies with the latest installment of our quarterly Sustainability Awards.

The MindClick Index analyzes suppliers in terms of corporate social responsibility, product sustainability efforts and environmentally-friendly operations. Marriott has announced that the index will be an important factor in choosing its future suppliers, in an increased effort to go green.

Recent studies conducted by MindClick have revealed that sustainable initiatives are not only important, but are becoming crucial in retaining customers. For example, two out of three Expedia consumers believe hotels need to be environmentally-conscious and proactive about sustainability efforts in an order to protect communities and the earth.

For more information on our production team’s latest renovations projects in the hospitality, government and higher education industries, be sure to subscribe to our free newsletter, InTouch.

Are you unfamiliar with our newsletter? Then browse our updated archives here, and read some of the previous issues. As always, we encourage you to stay ‘in touch’ – tweet us your thoughts on sustainability in the hospitality industry today!

In last week’s blog post, The Refinishing Touch team discussed the importance of environmental preservation, especially in the revitalized, booming hospitality industry. A great example of green leadership and implementation of sustainable practices were found at Marriott’s new TownePlace Suites located in Denver Airport at Gateway Park – and now another eco-friendly competitor has made its own mark.

This is a big step in the right direction toward Wyndham’s corporate goal – achieving a 12 percent total carbon footprint reduction by the year 2016. A large part of the program’s success is due to the 2010 implementation of the Wyndham Green Toolbox, a cutting-edge software program that allows all of Wyndham’s worldwide businesses to centralize and report sustainability tracking and measuring.

Through the use of its Green Toolbox, our furniture asset management services and other eco-friendly strategies, the Wyndham brand is ranked as one of the top 100 greenest companies in the US by Newsweek – coming in at number one among hospitality and restaurant companies.

For the latest green happenings in the hospitality, government and higher education industries, be sure to sign up for our quarterly newsletter, InTouch. You can do so by visiting our homepage, and entering your contact information in the right-hand panel.

Along with the latest in sustainability news, we’ll also uncover the most popular answers to our weekly blog polls and fill you in on some of the team’s most recent renovation projects. You don’t want to miss the next issue of InTouch when it arrives at the beginning of November!

Environmental consciousness remains a key component to our business, as well as the various hoteliers we work with. To commemorate such sustainable efforts, The Refinishing Touch will be running a three part blog series over the next two weeks, each spotlighting a different hotel brand that is currently making moves to become a greener establishment.

Just recently, the new TownePlace Suites located in Denver Airport at Gateway Park opened with a silver LEED ranking, proving that the Marriott brand’s commitment to ‘going green’ has become a core component of the corporate mission. The LEED-certified building is making history, becoming the first of the TownePlace Suites ever to be built with such a ranking.

Marriott executives have decided to pursue a LEED-certified line of locations because of consumer reports indicating hotel sustainability, along with environmental responsibility, is an important factor to guests when deciding which hotel to book. Other Marriott brands in the LEED program include the Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites and Fairfield Inn & Suites.

In addition, the LEED building will generate a long-term cost reduction for Marriott, adding a bonus to its bottom line – much like our furniture asset management services, which save our clients up to 80 percent in budget costs when compared to buying new.

In the continued conversation on how to be environmentally-friendly, sometimes being green doesn’t always translate to more green for your bottom line. But even so, spending a little extra on green products, such as CFL energy-efficient bulbs, can certainly reap impressive ROIs. For example, CFL bulbs last, on average, ten times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs and reduce month-to-month energy bills– two factors which will make the initial investment worth the long-term benefits.

Turn off lamps and ceiling fixtures when lighting isn’t necessary and unplug unused devices; large organizations can invest in automatic, smart fixtures which monitor movement and turn off unused lights

Consider packaging when purchasing items – are you paying for wasteful materials? Hotels, for example, can source toiletries with bottles from recycled products

Walk, bike, carpool or use public transportation to get to certain destinations, including work – many companies even have programs in place to reimburse employees for decreasing their transportation carbon footprint

Grow fruits and vegetables in a home garden, instead of spending the green at the grocery store. If you’re a student at a university, get involved with or start a program that maintains campus gardens or sources dining hall food from local farmers

For more tricks on how to save both your budget and the environment, be sure to subscribe to our free quarterly newsletter, InTouch. Simply visit our homepage, and submit your contact information in the right hand panel. Along with green tips, we also provide the latest in sustainability news, project updates and eye-opening blog poll results. You don’t want to miss the next issue!

For more information on The Refinishing Touch’s green furniture refinishing services or to get a free quote for the services at your business, visit our website: www.therefinishingtouch.com.

Earlier this week, Americans were glued to their television sets watching President Obama and his competitor, presidential candidate Mitt Romney, square off in the first series of this season’s presidential debate. Here at The Refinishing Touch, we kept our eyes peeled and ears open for any discussion of the environment and sustainability, two factors we keep at the forefront of our award-winning business.

The Refinishing Touch works closely with the government sector, implementing our furniture asset management services, such as refinishing, reupholstering and remanufacturing, at various local and state governments, as well as numerous federal agencies. Our team has completed on-site, environmentally-safe, sustainable projects at The White House, the General Services Administration, the US Superior Court and Army, Air Force, Marine and Navy barracks, among many others.

We also enjoy hearing the people’s opinions when it comes to government and environmental preservation, a topic we ask about frequently in our weekly blog polls. In August, we asked our readers what they thought the government sector is more driven by – environmental causes or cost reduction.

The results came pouring in, and the answers were synonymous. A surprising 100 percent of respondents agreed that the government administration and its efforts held a stronger focus on cost and budget management rather than sustainability. A sentiment The Refinishing Touch is working hard to shift to represent a more balanced outlook.

While this was only a reflection of our readers’ thoughts, it looks as if we will have to stay tuned to the remaining presidential debates and discussions to hear more about environmentally-conscious goals. To share your own thoughts with The Refinishing Touch team, be sure to participate in our blog polls every week.

For more results from some of our past survey questions, sign up for our free quarterly newsletter, InTouch – which is bound to be chalk full of the latest sustainability news in the government, hospitality and higher education sectors. To do so, please visit our homepage, and enter your contact details in the bottom right-hand corner.

Two thirds of chief financial officers are closely involved in spearheading sustainability strategies in their companies, reports a new study by Deloitte, and more than half of those CFOs report that their involvement has increased within the last year.

The survey polled 250 CFOs across 14 countries and five continents, and revealed that sustainability is no longer just a marketing point about corporate responsibility, but is instead becoming a driving factor in financial performance and business continuity.

Most heavily focused areas of sustainability initiatives for CFOs tend to be an increased vigilance over sustainability’s impact on tax and financial reporting and an increased investment in resource-efficient technology.

For example, many companies have increased practices such as video conferencing, data center efficient equipment upgrades and the use of electric-powered company vehicles. Businesses have also invested in sustainable furniture asset management – a renovation tactic that is not only environmentally-friendly, but also helps save a company’s budget and bottom line.

To learn more about how your corporate organization can benefit from our award-winning furniture restoration services, visit The Refinishing Touch’s website at www.therefinishingtouch.com or follow us on Twitter: @RefinishTouch.

As providers of on-site sustainable furniture asset management services, The Refinishing Touch is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of renovation projects around the world.

With this goal in mind, we had to share with our readers a new report from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research that analyzes how hotels can uniformly calculate the environmental impact of their carbon footprints. Surprisingly, the report reveals that less than 5 percent of hotels’ carbon footprints are generated from coolant and vehicle fuels.

The report is released in the midst of industry efforts to become more transparent to guests in regard to the carbon footprint of hospitality organizations. Many hotel managers are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that consumers are interested in sustainable hospitality options, a trend that has manifested in towel and bed linen reuse programs.

– Refinishing furniture saves an estimated 124.08 tons of carbon dioxide per property, when compared to buying new

– The carbon footprint caused by furniture asset management is .009% of the total of furniture manufacturing’s carbon emissions – a significant drop

– It takes 1,000 times more carbon dioxide to make a new piece of furniture versus refinishing it

If you’re interested in learning more about furniture asset management and ways to lower your business’s carbon footprint, visit The Refinishing Touch’s website at www.therefinishingtouch.com. While there, check out our carbon footprint calculator on the homepage to estimate your own environmental impact.